Nigeria and Kaizer Chiefs custodian Daniel Akpeyi insists Ghana’s better record will play no part as the rivals battle for a World Cup ticket.
The Black Stars have defeated the Super Eagles 25 times in the 56 meetings while their rivals have claimed wins on 12 occasions. 19 games have ended in draws.
On Friday, March 25, Ghana will host Nigeria at the Baba Yara Stadium aiming at getting an advantage.
“For me, history does not really work for football. What works for football is the preparation for today,” Akpeyi said as quoted by IOL.
“Currently, we are doing well and we have been to the last three World Cups. This is not going to be any different. It is not going to be a walk in the park but we are going to give our heart out there.”
“We have a crop of good players who are able to help Nigeria qualify for Qatar. Ghana is also a strong team, there has been a rivalry between the countries on many things. Football is a big part of this and at the end of the day, it is the team that prepares very well and gets ready to take their chances and defend well. This is the team that will qualify.”
The last time Nigeria defeated Ghana was in the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) where they won by a solitary goal.
Since then, the teams have met five times in all competitions with the Black Stars winning twice while the other two matches have ended goalless, in regulation time.
The latest meeting was in the African Nations Championship (Chan), held in South Africa. Though, this was not the proper national teams. After a goalless draw in both regulation and extra time, Ghana claimed a 4-1 win in the shootout to advance to the final where they lost to Libya.
